Wednesday, March 07, 2007

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - An al-Qaida affiliated group claimed in a Web posting on Wednesday that its members stormed a northern Iraqi prison the previous day and freed 150 inmates there...

A number of "lions of the Brigade of Hassan al-Zaidi stormed the prison and freed 150 inmates, Iraqis and non-Iraqis, and they all left safely," the statement said, adding that the order for the raid had been issued by the group's leader, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi...

Iraqi police had said that shortly before sunset on Tuesday, unidentified gunmen stormed the Badoosh prison, 25 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul . The gunmen freed about 140 inmates, going cell to cell, then fled themselves. Police rushed to the area, which was illuminated by U.S. helicopters. By late Tuesday, all but 47 of the prisoners had been recaptured, according to the Iraqi police.